PSA: The Amazon $199 1020s may not be unlockable

I was fortunate enough yesterday to order a few Lumia 1020s for $199 on Amazon - and actually receive them. I've spent the better part of this morning on the phone with ATT to no avail.

First, the majority of people who I spoke to today are complete morons. Here are some of the choice responses I've gotten:

Amazon could have sold you a Sprint or Verizon phone

AT&T doesn't sell a phone called 'Nokia Lumia 1020'

That phone is under contract (even though it's brand new, never opened, never activated)

Go to the unlocking website (x10)

I'm a former customer, so I tried the website - the IMEIs simply come back as 'not available for unlocking.'

I called the international number and the lady there was somewhat more informative. Not sure how true this is, but it may be possible: effectively, resellers like Amazon buy phones for 'contract' and 'off-contract' sales - so, for instance, if Amazon bought a batch from ATT, there'd be some IMEIs marked as 'on contract' and 'off contract.' With the price discrepancy yesterday, it wouldn't surprise me if these are technically 'on-contract' phones (i.e., the phone you'd receive from Amazon had you purchased service from them).

I've seen in other threads that some people will use them on ATT, make a call to 'register' the IMEI as an active IMEI on the network and that that somehow allows it to be unlocked. I'm skeptical, but I'll try and report back (provided I can find my old ATT SIM).

If ebay codes don't pan out, I may just send them back - unless anyone's interested in some ATT locked yellow Lumia 1020s - sell 'em to ya cheap ;)